title: Detection of a geographical and endemic cluster of hyper-invasive meningococcal strains.
abstract: From 2006 to December 2009, 45 out of the 513 strains isolated from patients with invasive meningococcal disease in Belgium, were identified as Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B, non-serotypeable, subtype P1.14 (B:NT:P1.14). Most cases were geographically clustered in the northern part of the country. Multilocus Sequence Typing and antigen gene sequencing combined with Pulsed-Field Gel electrophoresis were used to investigate this cluster. Molecular typing showed that 39 out of these 45 N. meningitidis strains belonged to the clonal complex cc-269. The presence of the same PorA Variable Regions (VR1-VR2: 22, 14), the FetA allele (F5-1) and the highly similar Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis profiles, supported genetic relatedness for 38 out of these 39 isolates. Retrospective analysis of B:NT:P1.22,14 isolates from 1999 onwards suggested that these strains belonging to the cc-269 complex, first emerged in the Belgian province of West-Flanders in 2004. This study showed that the combination of molecular tools with classical methods enabled reliable outbreak detection as well as a cluster identification.
authors.affiliation: National Reference Centre for Neisseria meningitidis, Bacterial Diseases Division, Communicable and Infectious Diseases, Scientific Institute of Public Health, J. Wytsman Street, 14-16, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium. sophie.bertrand@wiv-isp.be
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van Meervenne
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: De Baere
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vanhoof
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Collard
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ruckly
authors.forename: Muhamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taha
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carion
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D038541:Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup B / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012703:Serotyping; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial